What are your 4 pounds made of?

How to understand calorie and energy density.

By Ryan Andrews

People generally eat between 3 and 5 pounds of food each day. If we prioritize natural, whole foods, the 4 pounds we choose will fill us up while boosting health and lowering body fat. If we choose “junk food”…

++

I don’t know what you had for lunch today, but I had 18 apples.

What do you think of that? You probably think I’m a glutton and have the GI tract of a gorilla.

But check this – a typical fast food value meal has the same amount of calories as 18 apples. 18! So I wanted to see what would happen if I downed the same amount of calories from apples.

Not pretty.

Yet I’ve had buddies knock back 2 value meals while watching Monday Night Football. And no, I haven’t seen any of them go through a bag of red delicious by the 4th quarter.

What does this tell me? Well, it tells me that Mother Nature has got your back.

Food poundage

Interestingly, research shows that most humans eat around 3-5 pounds of food per day. Indeed, as we approach 4 pounds of food intake for the day, most of us are feeling pretty satisfied.

Now, this can be 4 pounds of celery. Or it can be 4 pounds of candy bars. It’s not the food or calorie content that matters. It’s the volume/poundage that counts. And obviously, there are some big nutrient differences between celery and candy bars, right?

I was surprised it didn’t weigh more. The actual food weighs less than 3.7 pounds, as the food containers contribute to the total weight. Although I did leave out condiments like salad dressing and mustard.

Note: this was just a random day of eating, for me. Some days I eat more, some less.

Also note: I choose to follow a plant-based diet, which is why you don’t see any animal foods here. However, my meat-eating friends have tried this experiment too and pretty much come up with the same result.

What have we learned today?

If we prioritize and eat nutritious, real, controlled energy foods – there isn’t much room left for the energy dense, fake foods. You only have about 3-5 pounds to work with each day.

So… think about it…what are your 4 pounds made of?

Eat, move, and live…better.

The health and fitness world can sometimes be a confusing place. But it doesn’t have to be.